Schwarzenegger honors Downey’s founder (with cool links about John G. Downey)

Downey’s scoundrel founder got a shout-out from California’s other non-native governor.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday founded a new political think tank at USC.

Here’s snip from the San Francisco Chronicle’s story:

“Schwarzenegger will chair the Institute’s Board of Advisors, and he has also been appointed the inaugural Governor Downey Professor of State and Global Policy at USC, a post in honor of  the first immigrant California governor — who was also a co-founder of the university.”

Click here to read the Chronicle’s story.

John G. Downey was born in Ireland and eventually made it to California, where he was a apothecary, loan shark, developer and a pretty descent governor. Although he seemed to play hardball when it came to businesses, he also took a pretty brave stand against giving business interests a monopoly over the San Francisco waterfront.

He got into a fistfight with someone who challenged him on the issue.

In addition, he helped found USC. Click here for a quick story on his role in the school’s founding.

Click here for a story on John G. Downey sticking it to a land owner who owed him a little money.

Schwarzenegger was born in Austria, where his father was a police chief.